I think camera manufacturers should go back to offering a prime as a kit lens, or at least make a prime an option. An optically excellent, reasonably fast prime in some variation of the "normal" focal length would be a break from the endless iterations of the basic slow zoom for someone who wants to start with a genuinely great lens, not one that is (by necessity-- I understand this) compromised.

The strangest change I've seen in my return to photography after a hiatus is the idea that zooms are now the default type of lens, and primes are some kind of weird specialty product. I'll admit I have a personal bias, but the option to choose an excellent fast prime over a basic (and or mediocre) zoom should appeal to artists, enthusiasts, second body buyers who already have a kit zoom, and others who are expected to be a large part of the market for DSLRs in the future. If nothing else, it would be a point distinguishing Pentax from others.

I think the idea is wonderful and there should be more basic kit offerings:

camera plus unique quality zoom (not exceeding f4)

camera plus quality prime lens

camera plus prime and zoom from above, etc.

Standard zooms are boring, everyone does it, and I am personally sick of seeing everyone doing same in this industry. When everybody does the same, then everybody is basically wrong too.

One could ask: what is Pentax advantage if their offer is exactly the same as of others? Unique yet obscure camera features won't sell it at a first glance, but good quality optics certainly will make a lot of difference